From fairy tales to fims to fiction, witches cast their spells and capture our imaginations.Now the biggest names in fantasy and young adult literature have come together to make a little magic of their own. Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Diana Peterfreund, Margo Lanagan, Peter S. Beagle, and Garth Nix are just a few of the authors who have toiled over their cauldrons and conjured up bewitching new creations inspired by and celebrating the might and mystery of the witch. Assembled by one of the most well-regarded anthologists in the science fiction/fantasy world, this rich, intelligent collection will enchant readers of all ages.Contents: Stray Magic by Diana PeterfreundPayment Due by Frances HardingeA Handful of Ashes by Garth NixLittle Gods by Holly BlackBarrio Girls by Charles de LintFelidis by Tanith LeeWitch Work by Neil GaimanThe Education of a Witch by Ellen KlagesThe Threefold World by Ellen KushnerThe Witch in the Wood by Delia ShermanWhich Witch by Patricia A. McKillipThe Carved Forest by Tim PrattBurning Castles by M. RickertThe Stone Witch by Isobelle CarmodyAndersen’s Witch by Jane YolenB is for Bigfoot by Jim Butcher (also included in Brief Cases)Great-Grandmother in the Cellar by Peter S. BeagleCrow and Caper, Caper and Crow by Margo Lanagan

     Neil Gaiman, “Orange”   Aimee Bender, “The Color Master”   Joyce Carol Oates, “Blue-bearded Lover”   Michael Cunningham, “The Wild Swans”   These and more than thirty other stories by Francine Prose, Kelly Link, Jim Shepard, Lydia Millet, and many other extraordinary writers make up this thrilling celebration of fairy tales—the ultimate literary costume party.   Spinning houses and talking birds. Whispered secrets and borrowed hope. Here are new stories sewn from old skins, gathered by visionary editor Kate Bernheimer and inspired by everything from Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen” and “The Little Match Girl” to Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard” and “Cinderella” to the Brothers Grimm’s “Hansel and Gretel” and “Rumpelstiltskin” to fairy tales by Goethe and Calvino and from China, Japan, Vietnam, Russia, Norway, and Mexico.   Fairy tales are our oldest literary tradition, and yet they chart the imaginative frontiers of the twenty-first century as powerfully as they evoke our earliest encounters with literature. This exhilarating collection restores their place in the literary canon.

    Featuring Newford fiddler Geordie Riddell, it's a gentle story of love, loss and the bonds of friendship.First published in Post Mortem edited by Paul F.Olson and David B. Silva, 1989; also appears in Dreams Underfoot and The Very Best of Charles de Lint.Timeskip is where Newford began: "Newford was not planned out in advance. It started (unbeknownst to me) with“Timeskip,” a short story that I wrote for an anthology. I wanted to set the story somewhere other than the Ottawa area where most of my stories had taken place, but I didn’t feel comfortable writing about a city that I couldn’t physically visit. So I decided to use various aspects of large urban centers that I had visited, and create a fictitious setting."–Charles de Lint, from an interview with FairyRoom.com"I can never recapture the feeling of first arriving in Newford and meeting the people and seeing the sights as a newcomer. However, part of the beauty of Newford is the sense that it has always been there, that de Lint is a reporter who occasionally files stories from a reality stranger and more beautiful than ours. De Lint also manages to keep each new Newford story fresh and captivating because he is so generous and loving in his depiction of the characters. Yes, there are a group of core characters whose stories recur most often, but a city like Newford has so many intriguing people in it, so many diverse stories to tell, so much pain and triumph to chronicle."— Challenging DestinyCharles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.— Alice HoffmanCharles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.— Holly BlackDe Lint is probably the finest contemporary author of fantasy– Booklist, American Library AssociationUnlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it’s just damned fine writing.– Quill QuireDe Lint’s evocative images, both ordinary and fantastic, jolt the imagination.– Publishers WeeklyIt is hard to imagine urban fantasy done with greater skill– Booklist, American Library Association

     Fairy tales are among the earliest fantasies we are exposed to when young and impressionable. They stay with us throughout our lives, whether in their original versions or filtered thorugh cartoon retellings. What more fun could a fantasy writer have than to take up the challenge of drawing up on this rich material and transforming it into something new? The eighteen stories in Terribly Twisted Tales do exactly that. From the adventure of the witch in the gingerbread house and her close encounter with an oven... To Golda Lockes, who has a special arrangement with those well-known bears... To a murderous attack with a glass slipper... To Jack, a successful theorectical geneticist, who discovers just how perilous research can be... To a wolf detective who sets out to solve "Grandma's" murder...   This volume highlights inventive stories that give a new perspective on classic tales! Includes stories from:   Dennis L. McKiernan — Annie Jones — Chris Pierson Mickey Zucker Reichert — Mary Louise Eklund — Robert E. Vardeman Kathleen Watness — Jody Lynn Nye — Jim C. Hines Steven D. Sullivan — Brendan DuBois — Paul Genesse Ramsey "Tome Wyrm" Lundock — Skip & Penny Williams — Elizabeth A. Vaughan Janet Deaver-Pack — Kelly Swails — Michael A. Stackpole

    It is said that even the Czarina Anastasia Romanova had received one in her trousseau. The workers come from the three neighboring villages on the border of Romania and Ukraine. Nourished, dressed and educated, they are the envy of all at a time when a famine programmed by Stalin sweeps the countryside and cannibalism rages from city to town to farm. But what is the secret of this factory and why does the Grazyn family protect its employees so scrupulously?The Bone Mother revives the great figures of Slavic mythology on the eve of the Second World War, from rusalka and Baba Yaga--The Bone Mother herself--to the golem. The existence of mortals is intimately linked to that of witches and vampires, in a universe where strigois rub shoulders with mermaids, ghosts and seers...and all are in peril from the Nichni Politsiyi, the Night Police, which wish to eradicate them.

    . . ? Find them all here in Holly Black’s amazing first collection.In her debut collection, New York Times best-selling author Holly Black returns to the world of Tithe in two darkly exquisite new tales. Then Black takes readers on a tour of a faerie market and introduces a girl poisonous to the touch and another who challenges the devil to a competitive eating match. Some of these stories have been published in anthologies such as 21 Proms, The Faery Reel, and The Restless Dead, and many have been reprinted in many “Best of ” anthologies.The Poison Eaters is Holly Black’s much-anticipated first collection, and her ability to stare into the void—and to find humanity and humor there—will speak to young adult and adult readers alike.A Junior Library Guild Pick. Illustrated by Theo Black.Holly Black is the author of Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale (an ALA Best Book for Young Adults) and two related novels, Valiant (Norton Award winner) and New York Times bestseller Ironside. Her latest novel, Black Heart is the third of a new series, The Curseworkers. She and Tony DiTerlizzi created the best-selling Spiderwick Chronicles. Holly lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

    Her eagerness to help a mysterious bunny gets her transported to a strange world full of goblin inventors, dog armies, cosmic giants, and even stranger things! Armed with the ancestral weapon of rabbitkind (an old shovel) she must help her animal friends, and get home in time for supper. Along the way she will experience the bravery of folk heroes, the power of ancient gods and the danger of lurking monsters; all while making sure her animal friends are safe. A word book for young readers, The Tale of Tallest Rabbit is a family friendly collection of stories tied together by an overarching narrative of bravery and friendship.

    until someone wanted me dead.Here I am, Lyla Ford, broke and starving, minding my own business, when twin sorcerers Tinniel and Nazeriah claim that I’m a witch from an ancient line. Not only that, they request an audience. Who do they think I am? Royalty?I would never entertain the idea of magic, let alone the request to become a tracker for the two paranormal bounty hunters who work for the Federation of Magic. That is, until the ridiculously handsome Tinniel tells me that my missing mother is the leader of the Federation. Who knew?When Tinniel gets kidnapped, a compulsion to find them both overtakes me, forcing me to work with the Federation. I have a feeling that if I don’t do as I’m told, the ancient line I descend from will die out. With my brutal, bloody murder.

    As recently as the 17th century, a farm-hand encountered them upon a Welsh hillside and was almost 'danced to death', and a century later, babies were still being stolen and replaced with 'changelings'. Even the finest brains are not immune to metahominid influence. When Sherlock Holmes' brilliant creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle fell victim, they made him believe that photographs of cut-out paper figures were images of real fairies. In short, the metahominids - traditionally called fairies - used Conan Doyle's fame and reputation to prove they do not exist.Within their traditional haunts of hill fort, woodland and barrow, these creatures are dangerous enough; but now, like urban foxes, they are abandoning the countryside to infest our city spaces. They prey upon us within our own territory - and modern life offers us no protection. Our unwillingness to believe in these 'other men' leaves us wide open to attack. They ramp up the trance music in our clubs, leaving us unable to resist dancing to certain tracks, and woe betide the young mother who suddenly realises her baby isn’t hers… no one will believe her. Thus they move amongst us, still destroying lives as they always have done, yet now, suddenly, in greater numbers than ever before…As this centuries old, covert war heats up, it falls to a shambling figure known only as 'D', and his pitifully underfunded department, to keep us safe - and ignorant of the nightmares that lurk, hidden in the every day world that we call 'reality'. A contemporary British fantasy, The Last Changeling reveals the hidden story behind present day real people, historical figures, and true events.

    Anansi. Brer Rabbit. Trickster characters have long been a staple of folk literature, and are a natural choice for the overarching subject of acclaimed editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's third mythic anthology. The Coyote Road features a remarkable range of authors, each with his or her fictional look at a trickster character. These authors include Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Charles de Lint (The Blue Girl), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Patricia A. McKillip (Old Magic), and Jane Yolen. Terri Windling provides a comprehensive introduction to the trickster myths of the world, and the entire book is highlighted by the remarkable decorations of Charles Vess. The Coyote Road is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fantastic fiction.

    But his reason for choosing this career was even less common, perhaps even unique. This story was first published in BEDLAM'S EDGE, Aug 2005.

    Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn.Bestselling author Patricia A. McKillip (The Riddle-Master of Hed) is one of the most lyrical writers gracing the fantasy genre. With the debut of her newest work, Dreams of Distant Shores is a true ode to her many talents. Within these pages you will find a youthful artist possessed by both his painting and his muse and seductive travelers from the sea enrapturing distant lovers. The statue of a mermaid comes suddenly to life, and two friends are transfixed by a haunted estate.Fans of McKillip’s ethereal fiction will find much to delight them; those lucky enough to be discovering her work will find much to enchant them.

    The collection is illustrated with photographs of dolls taken by Datlow and other devoted doll collectors from the science fiction and fantasy field. The result is a star-studded collection exploring one of the most primal fears of readers of dark fiction everywhere.

    Stereotypes of Mexican identities and fictions are identified and transcended. Traditional tales rub shoulders with mindbending new worlds. Welcome to the new Mexican fantastic.Eduardo Jiménez Mayo's translations include books by Bruno Estañol, Rafael Pérez Gay, and José María Pérez Gay.Chris N. Brown lives in Austin, Texas. He is a contributor to the blog No Fear of the Future.Bruce Sterling lives in Turin, Italy, and blogs at Wired's Beyond the Beyond.

    From Sir Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene" to E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops", literature is filled with sexy, deadly, and downright twisted tales. In this collection, today's most acclaimed award-winning and bestselling authors reimagine their favorite classic stories and use their own unique styles to rebuild these timeless stories, the ones that have inspired, awed, and enraged them, the ones that have become ingrained in modern culture, and the ones that have been too long overlooked. They take these twelve stories and boil them down to their bones, and reassemble them for a new generation of readers. Written from a twenty-first century perspective and set within the realms of science fiction, dystopian fiction, fantasy, and realistic fiction, these short stories are as moving and thought provoking as their originators. They pay homage to groundbreaking literary achievements of the past while celebrating each author's unique perception and innovative style.Contents:Introduction: Rags & Bones: New Twists on Timeless Tales (2013) • essay by Tim Pratt and Melissa MarrThat the Machine May Progress Eternally (2013) / shortfiction by Carrie Ryan, inspired by E.M. Forster's The Machine StopsThe King of Elfland's Daughter (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessLosing Her Divinity [Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz] (2013) / shortfiction by Garth Nix, inspired by The Man Who Would Be KingThe Sleeper and the Spindle (2013) / novelette by Neil Gaiman, inspired by Sleeping BeautyKai Lung's Golden Hours (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessThe Cold Corner (2013) / shortfiction by Tim Pratt, inspired by Henry James' The Jolly CornerMillcara (2013) / shortfiction by Holly Black, inspired by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's CarmillaFigures of Earth (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessWhen First We Were Gods (2013) / shortfiction by Rick Yancey, inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The BirthmarkSirocco (2013) / shortfiction by Margaret Stohl, inspired by Horace Walpole's The Castle of OtrantoThe Shaving of Shagpat (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessAwakened (2013) / shortfiction by Melissa Marr, inspired by Kate Chopin's The AwakeningNew Chicago (2013) / shortfiction by Kelley Armstrong, inspired by W. W. Jacob's The Monkey's PawThe Wood Beyond the World (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessThe Soul Collector (2013) / shortfiction by Kami Garcia, inspired by the Brothers Grimm's RumpelstiltskinWithout Faith, Without Law, Without Joy (2013) / shortfiction by Saladin Ahmed, inspired by Sir Edmund Spenser's Faerie QueeneGoblin Market (2013) • interior artwork by Charles VessUncaged (2013) / shortfiction by Gene Wolf, inspired by William Seabrook's The Caged White Werewolf..